Ad VerstijnenThe artistic career of Verstijnen started about 35 years ago. In the course of time, he developed his own methods and techniques and performed risky experiments. All kinds of materials were used, such as corrugated cardboard, jute, plastic and structural materials. Partially due to the use of these materials he created his characteristic works.

Ad wants personal characteristics, being spontaneous. The drawings from his children, Maaike and Edgar, were often a source of inspiration. The optimism appealed to him. More and more he started to see this and to appreciate this. The style that derived from this, very clearly demonstrates an affinity to the bright colours and spontaneous expression of the international COBRA Group. Ad Verstijnen painted the immediate environment of the child: child with cat, bicycle, and ball. All these images symbolise the freedom and have nothing to do with the norms and the rules of the grown-up society. This way, the artist deliberately breaks away from the norms that the academy taught him.